Tolls have long been used to fund the construction and maintenance of roads. Such roads are often referred to as tollways. Traditionally all vehicles travelling on a road where tolls are charged had to stop at toll stations in toll plazas located along the tollway at intervals and pay a toll. Toll stations were either automated or manned, and required payment in cash. Accordingly, payment of tolls required vehicles to stop and pay, causing congestion and delay at each toll plaza.
In recent years toll agencies have been increasingly using wireless technology to automate toll payment and speed up the process to alleviate congestion at toll plazas. Wireless toll payment has developed to the point that vehicles can drive under a toll gantry at normal speed, without having to slow down. As vehicles drive toward a toll gantry the vehicle is detected by the toll system and a reader for the lane in which the vehicle is travelling is activated, transmitting a reader signal. A toll tag device in the vehicle receives and responds to the reader signal, transmitting a tag identifier that is associated with a toll account to which payment is charged. The owner of the toll tag device is responsible for ensuring there are sufficient funds available in the account. When a vehicle passes a toll gantry and fails to respond to the reader signal, a photo of the vehicle, taken as it passes the toll gantry, can be processed to acquire a license number of the vehicle, and an infraction or citation can be issued to the registered owner of the vehicle for payment.
The success of wireless, automated toll payment systems has also recently been used to generate revenue along roadways that are subject to periodic congestion merely due to the volume of traffic at certain times by providing toll lanes alongside non-toll lanes of the roadway. Typically the toll lanes have very restricted access and limited exits, in part to prevent people from driving around toll gantries. Thus, the toll lanes allow drivers a choice to bypass much of the congestion in the non-toll lanes in exchange for payment of the toll. Some toll agencies adjust the toll amount based on the time of day or the amount of congestion in the non-toll lanes, increasing the toll at times when there is high congestion and reducing the toll when there is little to no congestion in the non-toll lanes.
Toll lane expressways alongside non-toll lanes are, in part, a response to the problems of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. In many jurisdictions, in an attempt to reduce congestion, HOV lanes have been established for vehicles carrying more than one occupant. These lanes typically do not have restricted access, and while most people observe the HOV, solo drivers often take advantage of the relatively empty HOV lane rather than staying in the regular lanes, which tends to defeat the purpose of the HOV, thus necessitating enforcement of HOV lanes. However, enforcement of HOV lanes typically requires officers patrolling the HOV, often stopping offenders during peak traffic hours. The presence of law enforcement can aggravate congestion as offenders attempt to quickly change lanes and other drivers slow down upon seeing law enforcement vehicles patrolling HOV lanes, which further tends to defeat the purpose of HOV lanes.
Ideally, jurisdictions would like to encourage people to carpool or ride share, as well as offer toll lanes for drivers willing to pay to avoid congested lanes in a way that requires minimal enforcement activity.
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The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.